Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Carrie Soto Is Back

This was another great story by TJR. In the same-TJR-universe 4 book series, I would rank this 3rd.

Carrie Soto is a retired tennis great, having won a record-breaking 20 grand slam titles. After 6 years into her retirement, she decides to make a come back because a young, rising tennis star matched her record on her way to passing it.

The story follows Carrie’s career and shows her determination, grit, and her close and sometimes complicated relationship with her father/coach. I loved how well TJR incorporated real tennis greats into the book and used retired tennis stars’ accomplishments and personalities in her creation of her characters. Loved it.

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lucyatoz's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"The fight for a place in history is about to begin..."

For the record, I am a big fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid's storytelling. However, Carrie Soto is Back is my least favourite of her novels that I have read so far. Do not get me wrong, it is a really well written book and I am a big tennis fan, however, I think it was overly focussed on the game & set and really did not make it to a match with me.

I did appreciate how her relationship with her dad, Javier, developed although he is her tennis coach first and a father second and it ebbed and flowed following the death of her Mother, Alicia, and her rise through the tennis rankings. However, I ultimately did not warm to Carrie nor feel invested in her story.

I borrowed a copy of this book from Taunton Library and listened to it on BorrowBox. I read this for prompt 33, an abrupt ending, for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024.

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really enjoy TJR’s historical novels and this one is no exception. I really loved learning more about tennis and seeing multiple timelines tell the story of Carrie Soto. The dynamic audio was also really immersive to listen to! Carrie was unlikeable (on purpose) but occasionally she did/said things that were so egregious that I would have set boundaries and cut her out of my life, and yet her closest friends stuck around for her. She did have character growth towards the end of the book, but it felt like such a stretch compared to where she was at just prior to that turning point since she had little to no growth for the majority of the book. The romance was pretty subtle, which was nice that it didn’t overpower the rest of the story. Overall, not my favorite by this author, but I still really enjoyed it. I think the high emotions from the game play-by-plays bumped this book up in rating just a little bit for me, I definitely felt emotional a couple times throughout this book.

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